Don't withhold Right to Education funds over NEP: Madras High Court tells Centre
The Madras High Court directed the Union Government to not link the release of funds under the Right to Education (RTE) Act with the National Education Policy (NEP), and to ensure that the funds are released separately under the Samagra Shiksha scheme.The directive came while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that pointed out that private school admissions under the RTE Act had not begun this year due to non-release of funds.advertisementA division bench of Justices GR Swaminathan and V Lakshmi heard the plea and noted that Tamil Nadu had borne Rs 188 crore for the 2023–2024 academic year towards RTE reimbursements, while the Centre had not yet reimbursed the amount.
In response, the Centre told the court that the funds were part of the larger Samagra Shiksha Scheme. Of the Rs 2,151 crore allocated, Rs 200 crore was earmarked for RTE reimbursements. However, the Centre said the funds were withheld because Tamil Nadu had not adopted the NEP.The judges observed that although no binding direction could be given since the matter is now before the Supreme Court, they found no justification to link the RTE funds to NEP implementation.The court also directed the Tamil Nadu government to release the funds to private schools in accordance with the law.advertisementReacting to the High Court's remarks, DMK spokesperson A Saravanan accused the BJP of using policy decisions to target Tamil Nadu. 'You can't impose Hindi on us. The BJP is biased. They want to punish the people of Tamil Nadu. They don't want Tamilians to prosper,' he said.
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